Would having a sibling after 7 years of being an only enrich your life or hinder it?

[heghf]

Just looking for experiences of people who have been in this situation either as children or as parents who have had an only and then had a second much later

DM retells the story of how she was 6 when her brother was born - she was so jealous of him that she bounced him out of the pram (coach built) onto the floor!

FWIW - they get on great now!

Just asked DS1 (now 14) who was 7 when DS2 arrived. He reckons that whilst DS himself does his head in most of the time, he wouldn't be without him . Even though there's a big age gap, they are have very similar interests (or have had at each age) so I imagine they will be very firm friends when they are older - they have days when they are thick as thieves even now DS1 is a grumpy teenager.

I was 7 when my sister was born. Cant imagine my life without her and we are best friends.

I was nearly seven when my dB was born, we’re very close and always have been

My brother was born when I was 5. I didn't like him, because I wanted a sister. We didn't really have much to do with each other, because of the age gap. We got on much better when I went away to university, and I still have the letters he wrote to me then.

From the other side of the experience my older sister was 7 when I was born. Growing up we were really close and I learned loads from her. I could ask her stuff I could never talk to my parents about. I do know my parents put a lot of responsibility on her though, by the time I was finishing primary school she was basically expected to babysit every evening and holiday until mum got home from work, which must have sucked for her.

We're not so close now though, but that's nothing to do with the age gap.

I was the elder with a seven year difference and we are really really really not close. It took till he was about 24 before we had the slightest thing in common.
I was at secondary before he started primary and I was away at uni a full year before he went to secondary then I did a couple of summers abroad then moved to London as a graduate when he was only 14.
We’ve never really argued but that because we’re never in the same place. I’m in my 40s now with a young child and he’s single/dating still so still no real common experience.

Depends on the sibling.

I've never considered the concept of enriching or hindering in relation to having more than one child whatever the age gap, no one can tell you what the relationship between one child and a yet to be concieved one will be like

Ds1 finds ds2 extremely irritating at the moment (13 and 6) and has been known to dramatically declare that ds2 ruined his life.

They do have very different personalities but get on more than ds1 would admit and I think the gap is gradually starting to narrow.

Ds1 would probably have been completely fine as an only though.

Our ds is 6.5 yrs older than dd , he didn’t want a sibling and they never got on really well until about 2 yrs ago and they are now 26 and 20 . It obviously may have been better if he’d been one of those children that wanted a sibling . The fact is though that we wanted a second child and it was our decision and we knew that materially it wouldn’t affect ds .

I was 7 when my sister was born and 10 when my second brother was born, I used to be made to look after them. I'm very close to the brother and always have been, probably his 2nd mother.

Completely depends on the specific personalities. I have a sister 5 years younger and we are not close and weren’t as children, I used to think it was due to the age gap but now I think we’re just very different people.

We have a 6.5 year gap and like most things with kids, it's different at different ages. Mine have polar opposite personalities but that's good because it's brought the older, more shy one out of himself a bit. My only real thing is that the older one is growing out of traditional playing just as the younger one is getting into it and school holidays take a lot of planning. They are firm friends & if it ever goes quiet in the sitting room it's because they're watching Mr bean sat side by side on the sofa.

There's 8 years between my daughters - they're 27 and 19 now and are true best friends. It's lovely to see - they've always been close though and I'm so grateful for that.

There’s 6 years between myself and my younger brother. Won’t lie. We hated each other growing up, fought all the time and argued non stop but it all stopped by the time he was around 10/11. He’s turning 20 soon and we get on so much better now! Have done since I was 18 and went to uni!

On the other hand my DH and his sis have a gap of 2 years, got in well as kids but have very little contact now so it all depends on the individuals

I think it depends on the child. If they are easy going, kind and caring they'll embrace a sibling id imagine.

8 years between my 2 DN and they are very close. I would definitely say her sisters arrival enriched her life however she is a very caring and kind child.

Depends on the child, we have a 8 year gap between ds1 and ds3 and 6 year gap between ds2 and ds3.

Sometimes ds3 irritates the heck out of them but they also absolutely dote on him so overall I would say he enriches their life,

I have 3dc..12years between them...never had any problems with sibling rivalry between them..oldest ds1, spoils dd and ds2..

My DSs are now 27 and 20. They get on really well and always have done. They are very different personalities but they complement each other.

I’m 8 years older than my sister. She was a PITA as a toddler but overall we’re pretty close and she’s definitely enhanced my life :) She’s an absolute sweetheart though, much nicer than I am!!

There's 7 years between me and DB and I was very happy when he came along. We got in well, growing up. There's 9 years between my daughters and they get on well too. As adults, they sometimes go out together and if one has a problem, the other will always be concerned and try to help.

My stepson was nearly 7 when my daughter was born - they absolutely adore eachother. It's so lovely to watch. I was so unsure of how he would react but it has been nothing but positive!

I was 7 when my brother was born and we were really close. I think because of the gap it’s a different kind of relationship, extremely caring and we never argued, I loved it!

In a lot of ways I think the relationship between siblings with a big gap is better than the one where the gap is smaller! My DM and her DSis are 7 years apart and always adored each other. My DH and his DSis (15 months apart) were always in competition with one another. My DSis and I (3 years apart) weren't close as we're so different in personality. There are no guarantees, of course, with any set of siblings/age gaps!